The big list of D100 settings

[Runeblogger]

2 hours ago, g33k said:

Agreed.

This is the key element I'd want for a "useful" list:  usefulness.

If I am holding a supplement in my hands, and am not well-acquainted with the system (core rules) it's designed for, can I run it anyway?  Or does the supplement rely upon material that I need to understand from its core rulebook, before I can run -- FrEx -- that Bushido adventure in a MagicWorld or RQG campaign?

That's right, that's really the goal of the list: to open our eyes to all the supplements out there that can be used with our preferred D100-system with little work. Of course, "little work" is a subjective aspect, and of course, familiarity with the rules is always useful in this regard.

2 hours ago, g33k said:

It's looking a bit like the OP is "trying too hard," looking to demonstrate how big/complete/etc the BRP/d100 genre-coverage is; that agenda has gotten in the way of the list being useful.

Ha, ha! You're so right.  At first it started as I mention above. In my ignorance, I thought the D100 family of games would be long, but not that long. As many people started to comment on several forums that I had forgotten to add this or that game, I started seeing the "family" I thought was a solar system is actually a galaxy! The problem was: the original list was way too BRP-centric. Of course, the original writer of the list (André Jarosch) is mostly familiar with these kind of games (as I am). So, seeing how the title of my post is "D100 settings" how could I not add a D100-system far removed from the "BRP-tribe", because even if the rules were very different from say, RQ3, it was still a D100 game and quite possibly its supplements are very easy to use with another D100 game closer to it. It's the idea Simon tossed in, that there may be "tribes" of D100 games whose supplements are easy to use with other games of the same tribe. But of course, establishing what subcriteria every tribe has to fulfill in order to belong to a set tribe is too difficult.

So in conclusion: my mistake was tying two axes that don't intersect: D100 games in general (a way bigger category than I expected) and compatibility/usefulness. Thanks Loz and g33k for helping me realise this!

If, on the contrary, I had focused the list on those D100 systems that are very similar to RQ1, I would have got a list of settings that are very usable with any of the games belonging to the BRP-tribe. 

It's either a list of D100 systems or a list of settings available to a particular tribe of games within the extended D100 family of games.

Still, as Loz mentions, this exercise has been very interesting, and I have discovered games I would have never known about otherwise! 

Now the question is: what should I do with my post? Do I change the title and redo the list or throw away the idea of compatibility?

 

Edited September 4, 2018 by Runeblogger

[lawrence.whitaker]

Quote

Now the question is: what should I do with my post? Do I change the title and redo the list or throw away the idea of compatibility?

Change the title perhaps, but certainly don't throw away the idea of compatibility, because, as I think has been shown, the compatibility between seemingly disparate rules may be much higher than first realised. If one knows that the least one has to do is multiply a skill's rating by 5, and perhaps add a bonus of some kind, it makes many supplements and adventures much more useful.

[g33k]

10 minutes ago, lawrence.whitaker said:

What it really comes down to is, with an exercise like this, the moment you make an exception for one system (and even for the best and most legit of reasons, as is the case with Pendragon), then it potentially opens up cases for more and more exceptions, that then require more and more disqualifiers to avoid the sort of situation you'd get by taking the d20/d100/roll under/roll over situation to its logical extremes and finding that D&D and RQ are, in fact, more closely aligned than one might otherwise consider.

I think I'd want to ask a simple question:  When I pick up an adventure/campaign/supplement/etc for the system in question, can I run it as-is, converting in my head (maybe with a 1-page or so "conversion guidelines doc" or something, some tables of equivalence, etc) with one of the rulesets in the "clearly IS d100/BRP" extended family of games?

As you say, once you've allowed "system A" and "system B" you may have opened the door to "A-alikes" and "B-alikes" and etc... and pretty soon you have more "this is a d100 game" than you have "this isn't a d100 game."   If we allow Pendragon's d20, then OBVIOUSLY a d20-centric system is allowed.  And EclipsePhase is d100 Roll-High, so OBVIOUSLY roll-high is allowed.  And Rolemaster has classes, and... and... and...

I mean, to a certain extent all it takes is to really know both systems well, and you can approximate well enough in your head.  Someone who has played 1000+ hours of AHRuneQuest3, and 1000+ hours of SJGURPS3 can probably run content for either in the opposite system -- they know what all those numbers MEAN mechanically in-world, intuitively; and so they intuitively know how to make an equivalent in the other system, despite the mechanical differences.

But for those of us WITHOUT encyclopedic knowledge of both systems... notsomuchso, no.  🙂

 

Here's another notion:  rather than using a strict Boolean-logic "AND" inclusion principle, let's set some defining metrics and SCORE games in:

• Linear / d100
• roll-under
• skill-centric
• Unified mechanic
• Classless
• Level-less
• Traditional STR/DEX/etc "Stats"
• Hit Locations and/or location-based effects/consequences

Maybe other things?  Give each bullet a score of 0-3 points (or -5 to +5, or however you want to set up scoring) depending on how RQ2-alike (or BRPcore-alike... MW as ref-standard?) the rules are.   Then start scoring some games, see how they rank...  Does it clearly show that all the games supported here on BRP Central cluster as high-scoring games?  Is there some point-score where suddenly games begin dropping away?  Maybe it's just worth having the score as a closer/further metric?

[seneschal]

Another thing to watch out for when comparing and converting among games is how the numbers scale.  Gangbusters!, DangerQuest, Rolemaster, and Call of Cthulhu 7 all use percentile stats, and some of the attributes may even be analogous.  However, the normal average may be different in each game, and things really start getting wonky once you reach exceptional or superhuman levels.

[Mugen]

14 hours ago, lawrence.whitaker said:

Well, in Rolemaster, it's take your skill value, add it to a d100 roll, and if you score 101+, you succeed.The probability of success is no different to rolling under one's skill with d100.

That's true for a simple skill use exemple.

But if you consider skill opposition mechanisms, for instance, the odds are often very different.

-In roll-over systems, you usually roll a die on both sides, add a skill to it and compare results.
-In roll-under systems, rolling under your skill is usually mandatory to win. In many rules, if both protagonists roll over their skill, nothing happens.

As a result, odds of success in roll over systems depends on the difference between protagonists skill : +35 vs +15 is the sama as +85 vs +65.

In most roll-under, the chance of a draw is higher at low skill levels than high skill levels. If you match 35% vs 15%, there is 55.25% chance that both protagnosists fail their roll. With 85% vs 65%, the chance is only 5.25%

Edited September 5, 2018 by Mugen

[Algesan]

11 hours ago, Mugen said:

That's true for a simple skill use exemple.

But if you consider skill opposition mechanisms, for instance, the odds are often very different.

-In roll-over systems, you usually roll a die on both sides, add a skill to it and compare results.
-In roll-under systems, rolling under your skill is usually mandatory to win. In many rules, if both protagonists roll over their skill, nothing happens.

As a result, odds of success in roll over systems depends on the difference between protagonists skill : +35 vs +15 is the sama as +85 vs +65.

In most roll-under, the chance of a draw is higher at low skill levels than high skill levels. If you match 35% vs 15%, there is 55.25% chance that both protagnosists fail their roll. With 85% vs 65%, the chance is only 5.25%

For the sake of discussion, would you consider ???-Master to be viable for conversion easily.  I haven't looked at the ICE books lately, but IIRC, they shouldn't be that much trouble to convert over. 

[Questbird]

On 9/5/2018 at 5:25 AM, g33k said:

I think I'd want to ask a simple question:  When I pick up an adventure/campaign/supplement/etc for the system in question, can I run it as-is, converting in my head (maybe with a 1-page or so "conversion guidelines doc" or something, some tables of equivalence, etc) with one of the rulesets in the "clearly IS d100/BRP" extended family of games?

I mean, to a certain extent all it takes is to really know both systems well, and you can approximate well enough in your head.  Someone who has played 1000+ hours of AHRuneQuest3, and 1000+ hours of SJGURPS3 can probably run content for either in the opposite system -- they know what all those numbers MEAN mechanically in-world, intuitively; and so they intuitively know how to make an equivalent in the other system, despite the mechanical differences.

But for those of us WITHOUT encyclopedic knowledge of both systems... notsomuchso, no.  🙂

 

 

I agree. When I look at games or adventures to buy there is a certain calculus required as to how easy it will be to incorporate it into my favourite Elric! campaign. Some systems do provide that 'conversion chart'. I remember seeing a Rolemaster -> Runequest conversion chart in one of their supplements for example. Even between 'close relative' modern BRP systems such as OpenQuest, Mythras, Runequest and d100 Revolution there are subtle (albeit minor) frictions that make it harder to just 'pick up and play' an adventure from one of the others. Fixed armour or variable? Hit locations or no? Different names for equivalent skills (Spot, , spot hidden, search etc.) or skills separated in one system but combined in the other (eg attack and parry skills in RQ3). But it will still be easier to use any of those than an adventure designed for Savage Worlds, D&D5e or, dare I say it, Aftermath.

[seneschal]

It also depends on whether you’ve got the whole rules set to refer to or just the module. If the former, you can sort of dope out what a tough guy or a brainy mad scientist looks like (or what damage a trap does) in that system and put together the BRP equivalent. If you've only got the adventure for an unfamiliar system, you’re really winging it.

Never have run the Lords of Creation modules I picked up cheap, not only because the stats are arcane but because the adventures themselves are so random and off the wall.  And you thought Rifts was gonzo!  The Horn of Roland would confuse Doctor Who (all of them), boucing from sci-fi coventions to encounters with mythic and historic figures to dinosaur-infested islands straight out of Land of the Lost.  Omegakron stuffs multiple competing post-apocalypse tropes side-by-side.  Whole tribes of mutant animals?  Sure!  They’re two blocks over from where Buck Rogers and Twiki hang out, but watch out for that stretch where A Clockwork Orange style gangs hold sway.  Did I mention the graveyard haunted by bog monsters as well as ghosts?  (No, these aren't spoilers because in Lords of Creation apparently not only can anything happen but anything WILL happen.  Try to keep up, dang it!)

Edited September 6, 2018 by seneschal

[AndreJarosch]

My original list was: 
- D100 games (as in BRP, or BRP-like; Chaosium Core system... RQ based, or whatever you may call it) games, NOT games that use a d100
- as compatible/covertable as easy as possible
- Backgrounds/settings for them
- ONLY english language editions

I wanted to show people that the d100/BRP-like game system(s) has so much more to offer than just the supplements for the game system you might be familiar with. 
If you play MYTHRAS --> have a look at RQ, RQG, Legend, BRP, Cthulhu, OpenQuest, Revolution D100 books too. MYTHRAS isn´t only a game with 30 or so supplements, it can be used with HUNDREDS of d100 supplements!
Same for GMs of other d100 games. Have a look what the other d100/BRP-like game lines have to offer. 

My dream would be that an advertiseing for Mythras and RuneQuest and Revolution d100 supplements could be found at the back of a OpenQuest book. 
An advertiseing for RuneQuest and Openquest and Revolution d100 supplements could be found at the back of a Mythras book. etc. 

It is ONE BIG GAME SYSTEM FAMILY! 
Show it off. 
Show all that D&D and Pathfinder players that d100 has a bigger range of settings and more adventures than they think it has!

Edited September 6, 2018 by AndreJarosch

[soltakss]

6 hours ago, AndreJarosch said:

It is ONE BIG GAME SYSTEM FAMILY! 

It is indeed.

[RosenMcStern]

6 hours ago, AndreJarosch said:

My dream would be that an advertiseing for Mythras and RuneQuest and Revolution d100 supplements could be found at the back of a OpenQuest book. 
An advertiseing for RuneQuest and Openquest and Revolution d100 supplements could be found at the back of a Mythras book. etc. 

It is ONE BIG GAME SYSTEM FAMILY! 
Show it off. 
Show all that D&D and Pathfinder players that d100 has a bigger range of settings and more adventures than they think it has!

It is a commendable dream, and I think that many people on these boards share it. I certainly do, at least in principle.

However, André, there may be some practical obstacles on the path of your dream.

[TheHistorian]

Late to this discussion, as I check in here infrequently. BRP family games have been the focus of my collection for many years. To keep some semblance of control to this (and it already spans several bookcases), I've thought about what a BRP/d100 game is for me.

 

One subtle criteria that I look for is the SIZ characteristic (or something by a different name serving the same role). It's in almost every game that I qualify as being part of the family, and I don't believe I've ever seen it outside a BRP family game as a factor in skill values.

Skill use as the cause of skill improvement is important.

Stats on a 3-18 scale. CoC 7E gets an exception due to the long history. If a future edition strays much further, I might not include it.

Anther thing I look for is a d100 roll under skill mechanic that IS the system. If you have resolution for combat or other significant task in another form, it doesn't qualify. And it has to be d100. The only d20 exception for me is Pendragon and its kin, because of other strong connections.

Lastly, could I take material from another supplement in the family and use it 99+% as written? If I have to write down conversion notes, then it's too far removed for me.

9 times out of 10, I can look at the character sheet and know if it meets my criteria or not.

 

I have all the English language items on the list except the following, because I've looked at them and  don't consider them as part of the family:

Bushido, Daredevils, and Aftermath

James Bond 007 and Classified

Warhammer 40,000

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (actually I do have all of the 1E & 2E material for other reasons, but I don't consider it BRP related)

Eclipse Phase

Twilight: 2000

Barebones Fantasy, Covert Ops, and FrontierSpace

After Zombies

Trudvang Chronicles

Lost Roads Of Lociam

That doesn't mean the above aren't interesting or don't have material that could be used with some effort. It just means that they don't fit my core criteria.

Harnmaster is a tough one. I'm hugely biased. The only significant body of RPG material I like more than BRP is Harn. Creating a BRP/Harn hybrid would be a lot less work than other conversions, but I don't think it reaches the 99% line. Maybe 90-95%. A lot of the modern starting skill structure we see (Mythras et. al.) is very similar to Harnmaster. But the magic system is harder to reconcile. Ultimately, I don't know, and my bias makes it impossible to decide. I have all the material either way.

 

All that having been said, I think the list is interesting! I can think of only a few obscure items that aren't listed (GORE, Mythworld, Bloodquest, Wraith Recon, Historia Rodentia, Magic & Flintlock, Eternity Realms). Good job!

[Questbird]

Fortunately Harnmaster isn't really necessary to enjoy Harn. I've played it with Maelstrom and Dragon Warriors; and BRP would be pretty easy too. Before Harnmaster the Harn world was envisioned as system-agnostic. From what I've seen of Harnmaster it has percentage rolls and levels of success, but I don't have the game so can't add more.

[TheHistorian]

You're right - Maelstrom should be a very nice fit for running games in Harn.

[Prinz Slasar]

Is it correct that there is only one D100 setting for really archaic, primitive cultures?
I've got all the MYTHRAS stuff (e.g. Monster Island).
 

I'm interested in something polynesian.

Edited August 26, 2019 by prinz.slasar

[lawrence.whitaker]

1 hour ago, prinz.slasar said:

Is it correct that there is only one D100 setting for really archaic, primitive cultures?
I've got all the MYTHRAS stuff (e.g. Monster Island).
 

I'm interested in something polynesian.

We have Mythic Polynesia covered. It's being written right now. 

[pachristian]

On 8/26/2019 at 2:53 PM, lawrence.whitaker said:

We have Mythic Polynesia covered. It's being written right now. 

I think I will just start sending my paycheck directly to the Design Mechanism.....,

[g33k]

5 hours ago, pachristian said:

I think I will just start sending my paycheck directly to the Design Mechanism.....,

My bank account is feeling your pain.

TDM's Mythic volumes for Polynesia and Mesopotamia are on my "get these by hook or by crook" shortlist.  As is Lyonesse!

Chaosium's upcoming RQG plans... dunno whether to weep with pain or joy to learn their deities book is become a 2-vol set, but it's another must-have.

And Spivey's new sci-fi setting... oooo...

Then there's the d101 stuff... and Alephtar... and I may just need to dip into the C&W Renaissance back-catalogue for a project of mine... and...

 

Um.

I'm glad my wife doesn't read these forums.

 

[Bill the barbarian]

On 9/4/2018 at 1:25 PM, g33k said:

• Hit Locations and/or location-based effects/consequences

 

Agree with all but hit locations, we wouldn't want to lose CoC from the family after all.

[g33k]

9 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Agree with all but hit locations, we wouldn't want to lose CoC from the family after all.

Note that the list wasn't "gating" -- you must have all these things -- but "scoring:"  these things all make the game more and more BRP-family, bigger scores are more-BRPlike.

Heck, the BGB itself has hit-locations and big-meatsack-of-undifferentiated-HPs as valid options...

[Bill the barbarian]

12 minutes ago, g33k said:

Note that the list wasn't "gating" -- you must have all these things -- but "scoring:"  these things all make the game more and more BRP-family, bigger scores are more-BRPlike.

 

I have got to get new glasses, thanks for putting up with my error.

[g33k]

3 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

I have got to get new glasses, thanks for putting up with my error.

S'ok.  Prompted me to revisit the idea.  Thank you!

Maybe some things on it SHOULD be "gating" items...  Or should be scored on a "this is more important" scale of up to 10 points, with lesser ones worth only up to 3 points... or something...

[SDLeary]

On 8/26/2019 at 2:53 PM, lawrence.whitaker said:

We have Mythic Polynesia covered. It's being written right now. 

Wooo! Nice!

That, Mesopotamia, and there was a third... What was its name again? Its been so long! 😉

Status on that one?

SDLeary

[g33k]

2 hours ago, SDLeary said:

Wooo! Nice!

That, Mesopotamia, and there was a third... What was its name again? Its been so long! 😉

Status on that one?

SDLeary

I think they're targeting their aging customer-base.  That book was Mythic Memory-Loss

[lawrence.whitaker]

10 hours ago, SDLeary said:

Wooo! Nice!

That, Mesopotamia, and there was a third... What was its name again? Its been so long! 😉

Status on that one?

SDLeary

Progress on that one is very much being made. Pete's been talking about chaining himself to a desk as winter approaches in Sweden...